A Napa holiday tale

A Napa holiday tale

Once upon a time, on the day before Thanksgiving, Papa Bear and Mama Bunny were getting ready to go out and run a couple of errands and pick up some things.  While Mama Bunny was finishing up getting ready, Papa Bear thought he would run down to city hall and pay the water bill, which absolutely had to be paid that day to avoid getting the water cut off. 

So Papa Bear saunters out to their 20 plus year old trusted chariot, Cecil.  Well Papa Bear gets in, puts his key in the ignition, cranks it - but no go!  Papa Bear knows what the problem is, for it has happened before.  Fair Cecil needs a new battery.  So back in the house goes Papa Bear. 

Now Mama Bunny, who was getting ready, knows something is amiss when she hears Papa Bear come back in the house so quickly.  She goes into the office, where she finds Papa Bear on the phone with the local Napa Auto Parts store.  He informs her of the calamity, and she stands there and waits to see what she can do to help. 

Well, the Napa  people tell Papa Bear that it will be an hour or two before they can get there with a new battery for Cecil.  For you see, Cecil was the only chariot that Papa Bear and Mama Bunny had to drive.  And there really wasn’t anyone else they could call. 

Well after Papa Bear got off the phone with Napa, Mama Bunny settled in at her desk and got on the phone, making inquiries about help for their battery problem.  She wanted to give poor Papa Bear a chance to settle down, because the whole thing had upset him a good bit; and Papa Bear had been very sick last year (2011). 

So Mama Bunny called some other places, and most said they just couldn’t help, or she got no answer.  A couple of places said they could help, but their prices were much higher than what the nice Napa people had quoted.  So Papa Bear and Mama Bunny settled in to wait for the Napa man to show up.

Well, when it got about time for the Napa man to show up, Papa Bear went outside to wait on the porch steps for him.  Fortunately it was a nice sunny day.  But Papa Bear got to feeling antsy about their coming, so Mama Bunny called and checked, and was assured that they would soon be there.  But it was then that Papa Bear discovered a new problem.  Cecil didn't want to open his hood mouth so they would be able to put the new battery in when the Napa man came. 

Papa Bear tried and tried to get Cecil to open his hood mouth, to no avail.  Mama Bunny got out the WD40 to use to try to persuade Cecil with, and she checked his owner’s manual, and searched for the shop manual (which she couldn't find).  She too found a place to spray WD40, through Cecil’s front grill, in an attempt to persuade him to open up. 

While all this was going on, the Napa man showed up and joined in the efforts to try to persuade Cecil to open his hood mouth.  Finally Mr. Napa man was able to persuade Cecil to open up for them.  Well I must say, Papa Bear and Mama Bunny made sure to thoroughly grease Cecil’s hood opening mechanism with the WD40 to make sure this wouldn’t happen again. 

With the hood open, the nice Napa man proceeded to put in the brand new Napa Legend battery he had brought for Cecil.  When the Napa man had the battery all in and hooked up, Mama Bunny cranked Cecil up, and he purred like usual.  Both Papa Bear and Mama Bunny were both very relieved.  Papa Bear paid the nice Napa man, and they both thanked him very much for all his help. 

Then Papa Bear was able to go pay the bill, and he and Mama Bunny were able to go do their errands.  One of their errands included going shopping at Walmart on the evening of the day before Thanksgiving, but that’s another story entirely!

You see, dear reader, fair Cecil had a habit of just suddenly turning up with a dead battery.  One time in particular, Papa Bear and Mama Bunny were driving down Frederica Street in Owensboro, Kentucky, when Cecil’s battery decided to up and die.  So there they were, stranded there in the turning lane in the middle of Frederica Street; when low and behold, what should come up behind them, but none other than the WBKR van with a big bear on it.  The nice WBKR men helped Papa Bear and Mama Bunny get Cecil across Frederica and into a parking lot. 

So friends, Papa Bear and Mama Bunny will always have a soft spot in their hearts for WBKR and Napa Auto Parts, for both have came to their rescue. 

And if you should be wondering why Papa Bear and Mama Bunny didn't call on their kids to come help them, then perhaps this photo will show why.

For Papa Bear and Mama Bunny’s kids are cute and fuzzy, and great for hugs and smiles, but they suck at changing car batteries.  Their cute, fuzzy bodies just aren't made for such tasks.

And in case you are wondering, this is all absolutely true.

Lest we should forget the heroes in this tale --

Our local Napa Auto Parts Store:
M & B Auto Parts
1340 S Main St
Hartford, KY 42347
(270) 298 - 4900
http://www.napaonline.com/ky/hartford

WBKR 92.5 The country station
http://wbkr.com/

Copyright November 22, 2012 by Jacqueline Driggers

How to become a book reviewer

How to become a book reviewer

Becoming a book reviewer is a fairly easy process.  The first requirement to becoming a book reviewer is:

-- enjoying or liking to read.

Passed that one?  Next,

-- decide what genres of books you want to review?  Are there any genres that you specifically don’t want to review?

For example, take me, I don’t do horror genre (the gory violent type) because I don’t care for the movies, so I know I wouldn't want to read the books.

-- Can you write fairly decently?  I mean, can you manage to string together at least 5-10 sentences about a book you have read?  And this includes using proper punctuation and grammar and spelling. 

If you have passed all of the above, then this leads us to your next step on your way to becoming a book reviewer. 

-- Where will you post or share your reviews?  Me, I have a blog where I do that.  Here’s a link to one of my book review blog posts. 

http://jdslzone.blogspot.com/2012/10/ebook-review-talon-by-gigi-sedlmayer.html

I like and use blogger.  They have a wide variety of templates to choose from and it’s fairly easy to set up.  Here’s the sign in link:

https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=blogger&passive=1209600&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fhome&followup=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fhome&ltmpl=start#s01

Now if you’re going to use blogger, you will need a google account.  If you have a gmail email address, then you have a google account.  Just go to the above link and sign in using your gmail log in, and you will be on your way to creating your blog.  If you don’t have a google account, just click on the ‘sign up’ link in the upper right-hand corner.

Another option is to create a facebook page and share your reviews there in the form of page posts or notes created by your page.  Here’s the link to create a page on facebook.  Please note that you must be logged in to facebook to do this.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

Plus there are lots of other free places on the internet where you can create a blog.  So you will need to set up a place to post your reviews. 

Okay, if you’re with me so far, then now you need to . . .

Find books to review.

This is probably the easiest part.  There are tons of authors out there today seeking reviews of their books.  Here are some places to find them:

-- a facebook group that I belong to called:  Review Seekers

http://www.facebook.com/groups/reviewseekers/

-- free kindle or nook or Smashwords ebooks - There are tons of these to be had on these websites. 

Smashwords free ebooks

https://www.smashwords.com/books/category/1/newest/0/free/any

Barnes and Noble free ebooks for Nook

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/Free-eBooks/379003078/

my own Kindle facebook interest list which will clue you in to tons of free kindle books

http://www.facebook.com/lists/3527648280991

Sony reader website free books
https://ebookstore.sony.com/category/free-ebooks

And you will need something to read ebooks on.  This is easily solved too, as there are free apps you can download to read ebooks on.

Barnes and Noble nook apps

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/nook-mobile-apps/379003593/

Amazon Kindle free apps

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=sv_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

Adobe ereader app

http://www.adobe.com/products/digital-editions.html

Sony reader app

https://ebookstore.sony.com/download/

So now you have your reader apps, and you links to find free books.  You have set up where you are going to post your reviews at.  You’re all set to become a book reviewer. 

Something else you need to do is decide how authors can contact you.  You need to have an email address to give them, because after you get established as a reviewer, many authors will email you a word file or a pdf file of their book for you to review.  I let authors contact me about reviews via my book review page.

But where do you post and share the links for your reviews at?  Here’s one place:

Book PReview Central

http://www.facebook.com/bkprecen

And here’s another place:

JD’s Leisure Zone

http://www.facebook.com/jdspg3

Plus you can share the links on your own timeline.  Facebook and the internet are just full of places to share your book review links. 

Now, there’s one more thing you need to do.  Drop by this note by the page Book PReview Central, and add your reviewer info to the note.  This will help authors find you. 

Book Reviewers List

http://www.facebook.com/notes/book-preview-central/book-reviewers-list/548986198461309

So you’re all set.  Got any more questions?  Feel free to message me via my website or my facebook writer’s page.

facebook writer page

http://www.facebook.com/jdswrpg

my website

http://emforjd.wix.com/jdwrite

About being edited for the first time, and doing editing

Just recently, I had two pieces of my fiction edited.  Two totally different pieces, totally unrelated to each other, edited by two totally different people, also totally unrelated to each other.  

Now I am 51, and I have been writing since high school, which was back in 1976-1979.  And this was the first time that my stuff had been edited by a person other than me.  To say that I didn't like the experience is putting it mildly.  And I have come to the conclusion that most editors will try to rewrite your stuff.  

Now one piece was for a blog, and was a 2 page short story.  When I got it back, the opened file looked like it had been in a knife fight and had lost. There was red all over.  The other one was something I am working on, and was looked at by a friend of a friend.  I didn't agree with what he said in the way of editing.  

Well, between the two, it put me in a bad mood; so I went on facebook and made a status post, and vented, as many people do when something gets them in a bad mood.  Here is some of what I posted:

To me, a good editor does the following:
-- looks for typos,
-- looks for spelling errors,
-- looks for wrong word use, i.e. their instead of there
-- looks for places where a sentence might be reworded to make it flow and read better,
-- looks for really glaring grammar errors, such as missing commas or using wrong punctuation or run on sentences and such. 

I also commented about how this experience had given me clarity as to the type of editor that I wanted to be.  You see, over the past several years, my husband and I have had some hard times.  And the last two years in particular have been really hard.  I haven't been able to work for years now due to physical issues, which made my husband the sole source of our income.  But back in 2010, he had to go to working part-time because of his bad knees.  And in 2011, he was fired; and about a month after he was fired, he was diagnosed with cancer.  Now he is cancer free, and on disability, and through with working.  I decided to try to get into doing some editing work to make some extra money.  I had excellent spelling and grammar skills, and work experience that enhanced this endeavor.  Plus I had something that you can't teach, and that is error radar.  So I thought, why not.

I want to be the type of editor who helps the author find the typos and spelling errors and obvious grammar errors and when the wrong word is used.  I want to point out where a sentence might be reworded to flow better in the story.  But I don't want to rewrite their work.  

I was, and am, grateful for the insight this has given me.  It has shown me that I hate having someone else edit my work.  My writing is my child, my creation.  It has also given me insight about doing editing.

But the real kicker on this whole thing came when I got online today.  It was then that I discovered that one of the editors had found my post and had responded in a rather personal way in the form of 3 comments to my post.  I used the handy facebook feature which allowed me to remove the comments.  Why the editor did this is beyond me, and why the editor took it so personally baffles me.  Shouldn't a good editor accept beforehand that the writer may not accept their editing?  Don't we writers have the option to reject an editor's editing?  After all, it is our work, and not theirs.  Isn't it somewhat unprofessional of an editor to take an author's rejection of their editing personally?  Just wondering.

Thus more insight for me as I throw my hat into the editing field.  Note to me:
  - do not take it personally with an author rejects my editing of their work;
  - do not be surprised if an author should react in a negative or hostile manner to my editing;
  - to avoid the above, edit with a light hand;
  - when editing, respect the author's writing style.

And why have I done this post?  What is the moral of the story? 
I'm not sure if there is a moral to all this.  It's just an experience I had, and have learned from.  And I did it because I wanted to, and this is my blog, and I get to say what I want here.

In conclusion, I will close with the following thought:
How would editors of today have handled the works of Twain, or Shakespeare, or Edgar Rice Burroughs, or Hemingway, and the like? How would they have edited and criticized their works?
How were those works edited?  Were they edited by another at all?

Some things to think about.
-- jd --

Hollywood has lost its magic

Let's begin this post with a link to another writer's blog post:

Crap TV – the fightback starts now. Right here, right now. Are you with me?

This post is by Stephen “Yolly” Yolland, and yes Stephen, I am with you.  You see, I haven't been on facebook in several days.  At the end of last week, I got my dvds of all 4 seasons of the tv series - Lois and Clark, the new adventures of Superman.  I made a marathon out of it and watched all 4 seasons from the first to the last.  When I finished the last episode, I fell into a deep funk.  The end of the series left tantalizing loose ends that would never be resolved.  If they had of made a season 5, it would have been great.  But what bummed me out the most is that now I had to go back to watching the regular mind numbing crap that fills the tv channels now.  Watching the Lois and Clark series made me realize how crappy the shows and movies are that Hollywood now cranks out.  It made me realize that Hollywood has lost it's magic.

Actors just don't bring the roles to life anymore.  The speak lines, but they don't bring the roles to life.  There is no magic in their tv shows and movies that carries you away.  The Lois and Clark show was great!  It had romance, action, great drama, and humor; all in one show, and most usually all in one episode.  And Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher just sizzled on screen together.  The had enough sex appeal between the both of them to fill the universe.  And they never got naked.  But they could sure steam up the screen with some great kissing scenes.  And the rest of the cast, well what can I say, they were all outstanding.  Their guest stars on that show reads like a who's who of Hollywood.

But that show was made in the mid to late 1990s, during what I have decided to call the Golden Age of tv shows and movies.  During the 20th century.  In the 21st century, I find very little to recommend as being outstanding.  But back in the 20th century, there is tons to recommend as outstanding.  It used to be that the prime time tv slot (7-10 pm), on the network channels, was filled with great dramas.  Now days you can't hardly beg, borrow, or steal a good weekly drama series.

The only recent movie that comes to my mind to recommend as an outstanding movie is Avatar.  That is an absolutely fabulous movie.  But otherwise, the offerings leave a lot to be desired.  As for weekly tv shows, the best 3 weekly tv shows that come to mind are all on Disney XD.  They are:  Lab Rats, Tron: Uprising, and Motorcity.  And 2 of those shows are animated.  But they are good shows.  Among the few good shows on tv.  Too much of the channels are taken up with reruns of series, or reality shows.  And the only thing Hollywood seems to know how to do best now days is to remake old shows and movies, and their remakes are usually pitiful facsimiles of the original programs.

And don't even get me started on the big screen movies they crank out.  They know how to mess stuff up so well.  And they crank out crap.  Most of the big screen movies cranked out today depend on big special effects, graphic sex scenes, or graphic violence or horror scenes to sell their movies.  They are JUNK!!!  Nothing but poorly made junk!  And they are an insult to the great movies that Hollywood has cranked out in the past.  I know, I watch a lot of movies.

I just wish Hollywood would regain it's magic once again.  I miss it.  I miss the great shows and movies that could suck you into their world for a while.  I miss it's imagination and spark.  I miss great movies and tv shows.  Watching those Lois and Clark shows reminded me of what great acting is all about.  Just too bad we don't see much great movie and tv show making any more.  And they can take all these STUPID reality shows and shove them down the garbage disposable.  
-- JD --

Re-post, share, and check your brain at the door

One of my facebook pet peeves involves posting, re-posting, and sharing of things that are inaccurate or untrue and unchecked.

For example, some people on facebook freely shared a link to a hoax post about Jon Bon Jovi being dead.  I went to the link someone shared, and it was quite obvious to me that it was nothing more than a blog someone had created to look like a news website.  Then I did a search to see if any legitimate news sources were reporting the story, and there were none.

Then there was the post that circulated quite freely encouraging people to make changes to subscription settings, claiming it would eliminate ticker posts.  When all it actually did was control what of that person's posts showed up in your news feed.

Sometimes it is like people take out their brain and shelve it when they log in to facebook.  I mean, is it so hard for people to take a moment and check out the truth of something before they plaster it all over facebook?  We are intelligent, thinking human beings.  But it is a great shame that we don't always act like it.
-- jd --

My week, Thanksgiving, and black friday

My week started out on Monday with hubby and I going out to do my grocery shopping for this week.  He drove, and I took my list of what we needed in general for our planned Thanksgiving feast for the two of us.  Now before you think less of my hubby because he just drove - he is on disability, has bad knees and is supposed to stay off his feet a lot, and is recovering from cancer treatments; so during the cold and flu season, we are keeping him away from people as much as possible while his immune system rebounds from the treatments.

I went to Walmart and got the stuff I needed there, and found the grocery side of the store to be filled with people doing much the same thing as I was.  But the people were nice, and seemed in a holiday spirit.  Then we went home and dropped off the cold stuff I had gotten at Walmart.  Then we went to our local IGA grocery store to get the rest of the things I needed.  Then we went home.  On Tuesday we ventured over to our local Dollar General Store to pick up 2 or 3 other things we needed.  They have cokes .28 cents cheaper than Walmart.  Then we were home with our shopping done for the week.

Now over the past 10 years or so, we haven't celebrated Thanksgiving too heartily.  Most of the time over the past 10 years, I have done little to no cooking for the Thanksgiving holiday.  So you may wonder why?  And why the difference this year?

It all goes back to fall of about 10 years ago, when my husband got a job working on the floor maintenance crew at our local Walmart.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.  In retrospect, we both sort of wish that he had never taken the job.  Because the job has ruined his knees and ruined our holidays for the past 10 years.  There wasn't hardly a holiday that he didn't have to work, especially Thanksgiving night - to be there to help get the store ready for the black friday shoppers.  So over the past few years we haven't bothered much with Thanksgiving.  Maybe a frozen turkey dinner and a pumpkin pie was our Thanksgiving celebration; because he usually worked the night  before - Wednesday, and would work Thursday night, and usually went in Friday night too.  And usually he would have to go in earlier than regular on Thursday, to make sure he got his work done before the shoppers converged on the store.  And with Walmart starting their sales at 10 pm on Thursday this year, I can't even begin to imagine what time the poor workers had to be there to get ready for the shoppers this year.

But this year, 2011, we had a great Thanksgiving!  You see, back in 2010, my husband had to start working part-time because his bad knees would no longer allow him to work full-time.  And he didn't have hardly any knee trouble at all before he went to work at Walmart.  Plus, I have a bad back, and have not been able to work for years.  We managed on his part-time salary, hoping he could hold out until he reached retirement age.  Then in the beginning of 2011, one of the night-time Walmart managers (who had always shown a distinct dislike for my husband anyway) trumped up enough gripes to get him fired.  He applied for unemployment, and had just started to draw it when he went into the hospital for a knot on his neck.  We thought it was related to a badly abscessed tooth that he had been unable to take care of, but it turned out to be cancer.  So he launched into the surgery and treatments to take care of his cancer, and disability was applied for.

Yes, we have had a heck of a year.  He didn't have any insurance, and money has been very tight all year, and he has been running back and forth to doctors.  But we still had a lot to be thankful for this year.  The two big things for me:  the doctors have now declared him cancer free and cured, and he won't be going into work at Walmart on Thanksgiving night ever again.  So we celebrated this year, and I cooked.  I fixed a beef roast with carrots and potatoes in my stockpot on the stove, made his favorite layered lettuce salad, made a bean and tomato casserole I had come up with the idea for, and got a couple of Marie Callendar pies:  coconut creme and pumpkin.  I enjoyed this Thanksgiving more than any other.

But I feel so sorry for all the employees' holiday that was ruined by what has become the greatest example of greed that our modern world has.

Thanksgiving is a holiday when we are supposed to reflect on the blessings that we have, and be thankful for them.  It is supposed to be a holiday spent enjoying good food with family and friends and loved ones.  It is supposed to be a holiday when you think about those less fortunate than yourself, and help them if you can.  It is supposed to be a holiday when we reach out to those spending the holiday alone, and try to make them feel less alone.

But in today's world of ever increasing corporate greed, ways to increase the money raked in from the Christmas shopping season are destroying Thanksgiving.

Used to be, when black friday started, it truly started on Friday; not Thursday.  But still it encroached on the Thanksgiving celebration of the employees who worked at these stores.

Used to be, yes, Christmas shopping started the day after Thanksgiving.  But it used to be a joyous thing associated with red and green and Santa and elves and Christmas trees and wrapping paper and the Baby Jesus lying in a manger.  It gave one a warm fuzzy Christmas feeling that built all the way up to Christmas Eve and Day itself.

I am 50, and I still remember the days before . . .

But black friday - there isn't one thing warm or fuzzy or loving about that.  Does anyone out there remember, not too long back, the stories of people getting trampled underfoot by other shoppers in a mad frenzy to get the best deals!??!  Why just today I read a story of this horrendous behavior continuing:

Woman pepper sprays other Black Friday shoppers

She pepper sprayed the other shoppers as a pallet of electronics was unwrapped in an effort to gain an upper hand over the other shoppers.  20 people suffered minor injuries, and the woman got away; but the store remained open and people continued to shop.

And this story is just the tip of the black friday iceberg when it comes to stories of black friday injuries and horror stories, to say nothing of simply poor behavior:

13 Most Brutal Black Friday Injuries/Deaths

What about this story from 2008?

Wal-Mart worker dies in Black Friday stampede

Nothing can bring that person back to their family.  And they were just a Walmart employee doing their job because they needed the money.

So is this story putting a crimp in your black friday shopping mood?  I sincerely hope so!

Throughout history, black friday has referred to any Friday on which a disaster or calamity has occurred.  And now the greedy corporate retailers want to take over Thanksgiving, and erase it, and shroud it all in a black cloak of greed and avarice and shopping.  And they will succeed if we the people let them.

So what do you say - you people out there?  Will you let them?  Or will you fight to save Thanksgiving, and all the best part of the human spirit that it represents?

I will always fight to encourage, uphold, and save that which represents the best of the human spirit.  And I will always fight against the darkness which would destroy the light.

Do you think I am overstating it?  Perhaps a little out there?  Or perhaps you are somewhat less than the best of what you could be.  Think about it.

And for you who agree with me, fight against the darkness that would destroy the light - wherever you may find the battle happening.  Whether it be on a war front, or in a store on Thanksgiving.
--jd--

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Want to read more?  Some links for you:

Wikipedia - Thanksgiving

Wikipedia - black friday

Time business - A BRIEF HISTORY OF Black Friday

Galloway Patch - History of Black Friday: 5 Things You Need to Know

Wikipedia - Black Friday (shopping)

Bloomberg - How Thanksgiving Became the Holy Day of Consumerism: Echoes

Today I Found Out - Black Friday: History, Myths, and Facts

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Note from me -- 

I posted a link for this post on the Walmart facebook page, and they deleted it.  I also made a comment to one of their posts about a food item they were pushing, that people should check out recipes for Thanksgiving leftovers on my food and cooking page; and they deleted that too.  

Apparently they only want comments that kiss their corporate behind.  And they obviously prefer that you throw your leftovers away and come buy new food.  

Thought about sending corporate an email saying that, but then decided not to.  You see, we live in a small town; and Walmart is it.  No Target or K-Mart.  Only other shopping is a 30 minute drive away, and we are just not in shape to drive 30 minutes to do weekly shopping.  I was on their corporate comment page, and then closed the page without sending my comments.  I became afraid that if I griped too loudly, that they might ban me from shopping at my local store.

America is no longer a free nation.  It is a nation in bondage.  Sad.

-- jd --

Facebook rolls out new changes

It began over the summer, this facebook rolling out changes.  And they indicated - heck, they said - that there would be more changes to come over the coming months.  As for me, I have liked all their changes pretty much and have adapted.  I like facebook.  And I do think their changes have made it better to use.  They have been really great to provide info explaining the new changes and how to use them.  The biggest change today was simply how the newsfeed on your home page appears.  Here is a link to some info explaining it:

http://www.facebook.com/help?page=189712557768134

There is even a feedback link at the bottom so you can tell people what you think of the new changes.  Judging by comments from my friends, it would seem that my hubby and I are among the few who like the changes.  Another change facebook made over the past couple of months is to add the ticker.  If you are on facebook, and play games, you have already seen the app ticker.  But now they have added it to your other pages too, for status posts.  The app ticker I didn't really care for as it seemed to crowd the game screen some, but I have gotten used to it and pay it little attention.  This newest ticker, I love.  You can hover over a post, and the whole thing appears to the left side.  You can easily check out what your different friends are doing and saying.  Here is a link to some info about the tickers:

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=279345652077938

I couldn't even begin to tell you why I like the changes, when so many of my friends seem to hate them.  But then maybe it has to do with my computer experiences. 

I began using computers for the first time in the early 1980s.  I took computer operations at a business college, and learned on a big room filling IBM System 34.  They were only beginning to teach desktop computers at the college when I graduated.  At my first job, my employer had a brand new AT&T desktop computer that he knew nothing about; and neither did I.  I took the manuals and read them and learned about it.  My next computer, which I still have and it still works, was an Apple Macintosh Plus; which had an operating system pretty much exactly like windows of today.  So I have used a lot of different computers, and a lot of different operating systems.  What I didn't understand, I sought to learn about.  Thus I got good at finding info I wanted.

I want to conclude with this thought:

Change is the nature of civilization.  New changes in some area are always presenting themself.  Once upon a time, cars and airplanes were new changes.  And from what I have seen in movies and such, back then there were people who hated those new horseless carriages.  But now cars are an accepted part of our civilization.  So to reduce the stress in your life, accept that change will occur; and adapt to it as best as possible. 

One thing I do hope that facebook will roll out is a way to sort out the posts for one particular game.  Right now there doesn't seem to be a way to do that.  There used to be a way to do that at the bottom of the games page.  Hopefully that is one of changes they will roll out.

That's all for me, and I am . . .
--jd--